marketing – Page 11 – THE SOCIAL CMO Blog

Blitz Package: My One On One With The CMO Of The Philadelphia Eagles

September 14, 2012December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

Another season of NFL football is upon us and I for one could not be happier. Living in the northeast, Philly to be exact, I always love feeling that cool, crisp fall air on a Sunday afternoon as my beloved Eagles gear up for battle. Makes me want to suit up myself.

Well, not really but I do wear a jersey on game day. Hey, I know I’m 46 years-old but I can’t help it. I just love football.

But I also love marketing and advertising and as such I decided I want to go behind-the-scenes and pull back the astroturf to see what goes on in the marketing department of a professional football team. So I reached out to Tim McDermott, the Chief Marketing Officer of the Philadelphia Eagles. I wanted to pick his brain to see what it means to market and promote a professional football team in a city where a) the fans are very knowledgeable and yes, fanatical and b) there are three other major sports franchises all competing for the same piece of the sports consumer pie.

As you will see the marketing of an NFL team has its own unique set of challenges but you will also notice that a lot of the same logic Tim and his team use is applicable to any business or organization wanting to build a strong brand.

SO: What are the biggest challenges (overall) in the marketing of an NFL team?
TM: One of the biggest challenges we face is that we don’t have nearly as much control over our product as we would like. In other words, we can’t control wins and losses. A restaurant chain can control the atmosphere, the ingredients in their food, the taste of their food, the lighting, and so on. A customer has a set of expectations, including consistency that the restaurant tries to meet/exceed. As marketers of a professional football team, we can’t control the outcome on the field.

Therefore, our job is to manage all of the other variables that impact satisfaction in order to create an incredibly strong brand so that when the team is successful we are able to maximize success. Obviously winning helps. But I believe you can and must create successful brands independent of on the field results.

SO: How has the marketing of an NFL team changed over the past 3-5 years?
TM: The explosion in digital media has created new platforms, new ways to engage fans, new commerce opportunities, new ways to communicate. It really has created a complete shift in allocation of resources (where we spend ad dollars, how we allocate internal resources, etc). In nearly all industries, power, information, and control has shifted to the consumer. Consumers want transparency and authenticity. They have a voice and want to be heard. We set up a digital department so that we could dedicate resources to the exponentially growing digital revolution.

The staff in this department are thinking about new media every day and the ways we can leverage it. Meanwhile, two years ago, we also established a 35 person season ticket holder advisory board. We meet eight to ten times a year and discuss a variety of topics. The idea isn’t just to create a glorified focus group, but rather they are to be extensions of our marketing department. In other words, we don’t just want them to tell us what we are doing wrong, we want them to help us come up with the solutions. That sort of dialogue with our consumer has been invaluable to improving the fan experience.

SO: What impact, if any, does the fact that there are 3 other major sports teams in the city of Philadelphia have on you market the Eagles?
TM:Philadelphia is an incredible sports city. In fact, it has to be one of the best, if not the best. Everyone in this city breathes and lives sports. Sports matter here. This is a four for four town. People root for all four teams. In general, I think the better each team does, it helps all of us.

At some level there is friendly competition with the other teams. I think it makes the marketers at each team strive to be the best we can be. We each want to innovate, to create new programs, to offer our fans the best experience. And when we see something being done well by one of the other teams there is respect and admiration.

SO: (follow up) Do you think it would be easier, harder or about the same to market the Eagles if there were NOT 3 other major sports teams in the city?
TM: I think having all major sports teams represented is part of the core identity of this city. I love the fact that there is hockey, baseball, football, basketball, and soccer. It provides the foundation to having many strong sports media entities in newspapers, blogs, TV networks, and radio stations. And when you have so many great sports media outlets talking about your product, it helps continue to fuel the passion for your team.

SO: What impact, if any, does the success of the team on the field have on what is done off it re: marketing?
TM: Winning certainly helps with off the field business performance. When teams win, there typically is some positive correlation to other KPIs. But it’s hard to quantify the level of correlation between winning and off the field success. And I would never let team performance dictate who or what our brand is or be an excuse for off the field performance.

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a freelance copywriter/blogger looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has more than 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn, or his website.

Message to Businesses: Change Your Framework—Change Your Future

September 9, 2012September 15, 2012 by Ted Rubin

Originally posted at IBM Smarter Commerce… Redefining commerce in the age of the customer.

A comment by Dino Dogan on my post regarding Scaling Social Messaging got me thinking recently. He said:

“Businesses try to force-fit their own framework onto the existing social framework. That’s a mistake. Social framework is much bigger and stronger. When two frameworks meet, one has to give in. In this case, biz framework has no choice but to give in or lose out. “

This is totally in opposition to the way businesses approached frameworks in the past. In the past, the frameworks were controlled, imposed, and enforced onto consumers by a business.”

Bah Humbug – Lack Of Mobile Integration Means Not So Happy Holidays For Brands

September 7, 2012December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

You know, there are some things in life that never cease to amaze. For instance, how is it after all these years of marriage (we’re approaching 20) I still somehow manage to do exactly the opposite of what my wife really wants me to do? You would think during the course of my marriage I would do onething the way she intended it to be done, yes?

Um, no.

Another thing that never ceases to me amaze me, as we approach the holiday season in the year 2012 is the fact that so many brands, still are not integrating their offline with their online marketing strategies.

“A report from global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget found more than half of America’s fastest growing retailers have yet to fully connect online and offline shopping experience, leaving shoppers unsatisfied with their shopping experience.”

The live above is from a press release I received recently. The headline of the release was even more ominous: Research Finds a ‘Mobile Chasm’ Between Retailers, Consumers Heading into Holiday Shopping Season.

Wow. Anytime you throw the word “chasm” into a conversation and use it to describe any type of gap or hole, you know instantly that said gap or hole is as Mike Myers might say, friggin huge!

Jeff Rohrs, ExactTarget’s vice president of marketing research and education says as they gear up for the holidays, marketers need to “consider how consumers use their mobile phones while shopping,” adding “shoppers are turning to their phones for coupons, promotions and discounts, and marketers have a never-before-seen opportunity to transform these interactions into ongoing conversations that drive sales and repeat purchases.”

The press release also makes mention of a Forrester report from earlier this year which, among others, reported that:

Twice as many consumers compared to last year are researching products for purchase using their mobile device
More U.S. mobile phone owners are downloading applications and receiving SMS/text alerts compared to last year

Should any of this surprise or amaze you? If it does, it’s time to think about a career change if you’re currently in a marketing or advertising related position. Seriously, if you don’t already know of the impact of Mobile Marketing, I would like you to draw me a picture of the rock you clearly have been living under.

It should also come as no surprise that the lack of online and offline integration is “leaving shoppers unsatisfied with their shopping experience.”

Last July I wrote an article titled Shoppers Want Integration, Retailers And Marketers Not Delivering It in which I made reference to two separate reports/surveys which revealed that integration, along with convenience and service are what consumers want most but find most retailers and retail marketers don’t deliver.

From the reports/surveys:

Integration (consistency) – What Consumers Want

85% want an integrated shopping experience
72% want an integrated marketing approach

Integration (consistency) – What Consumers Currently Get

50% get an integrated shopping experience
39% get an integrated marketing approach

Looking at the gap in percentages between what consumers want vs. what they actually get may or may not qualify as being “chasm-worthy” but make no mistake about it, there is a major disconnect for sure. And it’s not as if marketers don’t want to deliver an integrated approach, either.

From another article, this one titled aptly enough Marketing Integration: What Every Marketer Wants For Christmas:

The article was written last December and the above is a from survey conducted by Webmarketing123. You’ll notice that marketing integration outscored search engine marketing, PPC, even social media when it comes to what marketers want to learn. Yes Virginia, it even outscored social media.

So why then does integration continue to be The Eleven Letter Word That Continues To Elude All CMOs And Marketers?

Can’t we find a couch and Chuck Woolery and make a love connection between offline and online marketing strategies? Can it be that difficult?

This past May I made a trip back to the future of sorts, looking at Integrated Marketing Communications – Then And Now. I made reference to something that was written all the way back in the year 1999 in the The Journal of Marketing Communications: “The need to strive for greater integration is considered inevitable by many, although the means by which such integration may be achieved is uncertain.”

Seems the inevitability has come to fruition where the means is still something many are still seeking.

When Taglines Go Bad – The Best Buy Saga

August 31, 2012December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

So there I was minding my own business when I came across an article on Fast Company entitled What Every CEO Can Learn From Best Buy’s (Continued) Branding Mistakes. Written by David Brier, who I know to be not only a great writer but also a branding expert, the article made reference to the new tagline the much-maligned Best Buy recently trotted out after what was surely an exhaustive 18-month odyssey. Truth be told the 18 months was spent “working to reframe the retailer’s brand proposition” and the new tagline was one item that came out of said reframing.

The new tagline for Best Buy is, wait for it “Making technology work for you.”

In his article Brier refers to the tagline as “not only tired, it is a death sentence that is bland, old, worn, uninspired and not reflective of a single strand of your customer’s aspirations.” He also, quite correctly I might add, says the tagline “reeks of “marketing speak” and “committee-itis.”

He goes on to talk about branding in general but I want to focus squarely on this horrifically bad tagline.

CEOs On Social Media: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

August 5, 2012December 20, 2014 by Steve Olenski

As a parent I of course have tried to instill a set of rules for my children to adhere to as a means to teach them as they move along the growth ladder. All parents instill their own set of rules and values and so on to help guide the instruct their children, right?

Well let’s say that when my kids were younger, say around 3, I hung up a sign in the kitchen that read: “Don’t Touch A Hot Stove.” I made the sign big, bright and bold so they could not miss it every time they walked into the kitchen. And they followed the rule and never touched the hot stove.

Now let’s say one time they walked into the kitchen and there I was touching the hot stove, burning my fingers, screaming in pain.

“Daddy, you told us to never touch the hot stove. Why did you touch it?”

“Um, well… it’s different for grown ups.”

“Oh, I see… you want me to get mommy so she can take you to the hospital?”

While this may not be the best analogy the point is very clear that when it comes to social media and the use thereof, far too many CEOs are telling their employees – and the rest of the world for that matter that they know their company needs to be “doing it” yet simply do not practice what they preach.

Does Big Data Kill Big Thinking?

May 27, 2012May 27, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

Big Data is a popular term today that references the huge volumes of business and consumer data being collected and stored by organizations, which cannot be effectively data mined due to the limitations of commonly used software tools that capture, manage, or process the data.

While first diagnosed in the science, government, healthcare and military industries, the vast volumes of consumer data being produced through social technologies has landed this reality – and this problem – on the desks of CMOs globally.

Not only is data being produced at lighting speeds, the devices used to produce, broadcast, measure, store and share that data are on the rise, which then fuels further content generation. The cycle is creating a Big Data cyclone that organizations will continue to struggle with.

The Eleven Letter Word That Continues To Elude All CMOs And Marketers

May 22, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

It’s a rather simple word to say, just four syllables. It’s an easily understood word on the surface – at least I think it is. Its meaning is quite apparent the moment you hear it. Yet so many CMO’s and marketers treat this 11-letter word as if it were a 4-letter word.

And I don’t know why for the life of me.

The word that continues to elude and evade CMOs and marketers is *I*N*T*E*G*R*A*T*I*O*N.

And as anyone who knows me knows this about me – I am a Scorpio who enjoys hot chocolate in August. No wait, not that.

Are brands wielding more influence in Social Media than we thought?

May 9, 2012 by TheSocialCMO

As one who has read, dissected and written about many a study regarding social media, brands and consumers, I can tell you I for one was quite surprised to see read the findings of a survey recently conducted by Market Force – a worldwide leader in customer intelligence solutions.

In querying more than 12,000 consumers in the US and UK, they wanted to see how consumers engaged with varying industries – retail, restaurant, travel, entertainment and financial businesses to be specific, via the big dogs of social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.